Electricity companies in Slovakia have witnessed a reduced demand in Q1 2020 when compared with the same period last year due to the COVID-19 outbreak, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company. Electricity consumption in Slovakia declined by 2.2% in the first two months of 2020 when compared with the same period of 2019.

As most of the workforce remains indoors, complying with the quarantine measures opted globally, consumption in the residential sector rose significantly. Shutdown or reduction of operations in large companies, factories (including car manufacturing units), small and medium enterprises, educational institutions and the hospitality industry had a significant impact on the average daily consumption.

The demand in the commercial sector was hit hard as malls, shopping centers, hotels, bars, and restaurants were closed due to strict measures undertaken by the government to contain the virus. Although the residential sector had a higher consumption, the increase was unable to offset the decline in consumption in the industrial and commercial segments. According to SEPS, on average the Q1 2020 decline has been around 2.7% compared to Q1 2019.

Electricity consumption in Slovakia will continue to decline in the coming weeks as the current pandemic situation in the country is likely to persist. Demand for electricity will steady be in Q3 and will show an increasing trend in Q4 2020.

Somik Das, Senior Power Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The decline in electricity consumption is expected to negatively impact new capacity additions planned in the country. It is expected that due to the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in a subsequent decline in demand, there will be delays in the commissioning of projects that are in the later stages of construction. With social distancing measures in place and a significant reduction of the construction workforce, it is highly likely that the commissioning of the projects will be pushed to next year.”